International seminarFamily as a basis for reindeer-breeding and Current
situation and management of wild reindeer populationof the programme of the Arctic Council Sustainable
reindeer-breeding
22-27 March, 2004, Yakutsk

The
revival of nomadic way
of life of reindeer-breeders and
the organization of nomadic community schools

by Vasili
A. Robbek
Director, Institute for the Problems of the Indigenous Small Peoples
of the North (Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences),
Doctor of Philology, Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation
and the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

At present the reindeer-breeding is in a deep crisis in many
regions of Russia including in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). At
present the reindeer-breeding almost cannot be transmitted into
market conditions in our Republic because of a number of objective
causes. But the reindeer-breeding has been existed in our country
from ancient times.

According to historical data, the man met a reindeer in the deep
past.

The most ancient story about reindeer-breeding is in the Karelian
epos: Kalevale. The first information about the reindeer-breeding in
Scandinavia is in the Scandinavian saga, in particular, in the saga
about Otare, a head of northern Norman tribe, who had more than six
hundred reindeers.1 The origin of reindeer-breeding was
determined thanks to the archaeological data, in particular, thanks
to the excavations in a burial ground in the Askyzskiy region of
Khakasia made by L.P. Kyzlasov. The reindeer-breeding was determined
as originated from the 1st or 2nd centuries AD (Tashtyk era).2
This is also confirmed by the data of Academician A.P. Okladnikov.3
Perhaps the reindeer-breeding in Europe and the reindeer-breeding in
Asia originated independently on each other.

The opinion of specialists that the origin of reindeer-breeding
is in Europe (in Scandinavia) as well as it is in Asia (in a
territory of the Altai ans Sayani plateau) is firm.

It is quite possible that the origin of reindeer-breeding is also
in the North near the Arctic Ocean because there was a lot of
reindeers in the past. Almost all the ancient epich stories of
indigenous Northern peoples have the data that such a version is
possible.

The destinies of the indigenous small peoples of the North, their
nomadic way of life and their unique civilization of
reindeer-breeders, as an original part of the earth civilization,
are connected with reindeer-breeding.

The reindeer-breeding surely overcame several stages in its
development.

In Russia, the first literary information about reindeer-breeding
of Northern peoples appeared after that the northern and eastern
territories were joined to the Russian Empire i.e. from the 17th
century AD. The Northern peoples were divided into «sidyachie»
(sedentary) and «olennie» (those having reindeer) i.e. «osedlie»
(settled) and «kochevie» (nomadic).

In official level, the way of life of the peoples of the North
was confirmed by «Ustav ob upravlenii inorodtsev» («Charter on
native administration») adopted on 22 June, 1822. According to this
Charter, all the indigenous population was divided into three
categories: «osedlie» (settled), «kochevie» (nomadic) and «brodyachie»
(travelling).4

During the first years of Soviet power, the community soviets
were established as nomadic communities currently. But these
community soviets had broader rights than those of our nomadic
communities.

During the Soviet power, many transformations had place in a life
of reindeer-breeders. But these transformations didn’t consider
the main thing: the way of life. Thus, in its Decree «On rendering
additional help in the development of economy and culture of the
peoples of the North» of February 20, 1960, the RSFSR Soviet of
Ministers called to transmit all the nomadic population in the Far
North into a settled way of life in the nearest years.6
This was a damage to a centuries-old way of life of
reindeer-breeders and this had negative social consequences for a
people. The reindeer-breeding is surely a basis for nomadic way of
life. This way of life may be eliminated only together with the
disappearance of reindeer-breeding. If a reindeer disappears then
the northern people will disappear: reindeer-breeding is a
traditional activity of northern people.

I was brought up in a nomadic family and I am deeply convinced
that the main steps to revive reindeer-breeding in Yakutia in the
current historical condidions may be:

1) to restore the nomadic and semi-nomadic family and community
way of life of reindeer-breeders within their traditional ethnic
territory on the basis of family and community private and other
forms of property on reindeer. Therefore it is necessary to
determine a special status of nomadic way of life of
reindeer-breeding peoples and ethnic groups in the Federal Law «On
northern reindeer-breeding».

2) to settle a State protectionism:

a) in introduction of industrial technologies in
reindeer-breeding;

b) in social care and settlement of nomadic families.

Thanks to practical support of the President, Parliament and
Government during the last decade in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia),
the hard burden of transition from one socio-economic formation to
another became softer but we couldn’t avoid the big losses in a
number of reindeers and the deterioration of socio-economic state of
families of reindeer-breeders.

Several measures are undertaken by the State and the indigenous
peoples themselves but a «key» to settle problems is not found
yet. Perhaps, therefore the problems of reindeer-breeding are
included into the Programme «Village» but village is a settled way
of life.

It is urgently necessary to work out an independent State
programme «Restoration of nomadic family and community way of life
of the reindeer-breeding peoples of the North» for we deal with the
survival and further destiny of the indigenous small peoples of the
North.

At present the situation is as follows: in Figure 1.

If there were 367000 reindeers in the Sakha Republic in 1990,
then there are 138513 reindeers now.

The indigenous small peoples of the North looked for ways of
salvation and they founded communities.

In order to restore a nomadic way of life, it is compulsory to
reunite a family of reindeer-breeder i.e. to create them social
conditions for leading a nomadic life.

Therefore the nomadic communities of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
urgently request that their children be together with them.

The ways of solution

In the post-Soviet period, having looked for ways of
survival, the indigenous small peoples of the North decided to
return to their own sources: to revive the traditional way of life
of reindeer-breeder, hunter and fisherman. This is a nomadic,
semi-nomadic way of life.

Nomadic life is a unique civilization created by peoples during
many centuries. Its main achievements are: preservation of a site
for human living in the pole of cold, preservation of traditions,
customs, continued connection between generations; creation,
preservation and development of ethnic culture as a part of the
circumpolar culture of the peoples living along the Arctic Ocean
coast. The system of education of reindeer-breeders, hunters and
fishermen cannot be outside of a nomadic way of life.

This reality sets up quite inordinary tasks before the united
State system of general school of Russia including the Sakha
Republic (Yakutia).

Thus the current system of education should meet educational
needs of the nomadic Northern peoples dispersed in zones (Fig. 1).

In fact, this is a new page in educational practice and
pedagogical theory. Here one should solve a variety of problems
which cover all the elements of subject structure of pedagogical
knowledge: general pedagogics (philosophy of education), didactics,
theory of education, school studies i.e. organization of educational
systems of nomadic peoples.

From practical point of view, the role of integrative function of
schools in a life of ethnos sharply increases.

In the practical solution of issues of meeting the educational
needs of the nomadic Northern peoples in the Sakha Republic
(Yakutia), the key role of school will be mainly a union, of the
disconnected relations between the indigenous Northern generations
and, of the educational structures. This will have positive social
consequences for a further destiny of ethnos. Therefore the
scientific concepts, textbooks, educational and methodical supplies
in the indigenous Northern languages have been created and continue
to be created.8, 9

At present, the following schools expressed their wish and
performed a preparotary work towards introducing the various
variants of system of community nomadic education: in Fig. 2.

In the connection, with the practical situation of life of the
indigenous small peoples of the North and, with the abovementioned
facts, I suggest:

on behalf of our high forum of reindeer-breeding peoples of the
world, to appeal to the Government of the Russian Federation and its
subjects with an urgent request of working out «The State
programmes on restoration of a way of life of the indigenous small
peoples of the North engaged in reindeer-breeding»;

on behalf of our high forum and the intelligentsia of
reindeer-breeding peoples, in the connection with declaration of «The
week of education for all peoples» (19-24 April, 2004) by UNESCO,
appeal to UNESCO with request to declare the year 2004 as an Year of
beginning of work in creating nomadic schools of the
reindeer-breeding peoples of the world.

Figure 2

Nomadic schools of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

District (ulus)

Schools

At basic school

Year of

foundation

Number of

children

teachers

1. Aldanskiy

Two Evenki schools
Ugut, Amma

Khatystyr secondary
school

1992

18

4

2. Аnabarskiy

Dolgan school and
kindergarten

Saskylakh secondary
school

1995

9

2

3. Verkhnekolymskiy

Even community
school and kindergarten Utaya covering 2 teams of
reindeer-breeders